My life is being quantified and evaluated from the moment I wake up. Whoop tracks my heart rate and sleep performance, providing a “recovery score” upon waking (and total stress accumulated throughout the day). Body weight and fat% are collected shortly thereafter and "ping'd" to my phone. My phone tracks my steps throughout the day and a smart scale partnering with a nutrition app tracks nutrition- calorie, macro and micro nutrient intake. While I train, a Garmin computer matches to a powermeter and heartrate monitor to measure energy output, intensity and caloric expenditure. At the end of the day I can detail my day entirely through data and, overtime, measure/ track changes. What can I say, I am a data geek and firmly believe in actions rooted in data.
One thing to note about me is that I don’t settle for the status quo, I am always looking and seeking optimization of my behaviors to enhance my athletic performance, and ultimately my wellbeing. The aforenoted apps and devices provide a great deal of insight into me. However performance and wellbeing extends far beyond the data I am able to collect. These instruments mostly detail the input and the output- the result, but it’s the inside picture that is missing- and the hardest part to quantify.
In an effort to better understand my innerworkings I sought nutritional advice and guidance from Dave Starr of Eat Drink Win. Over the 2020 summer, I worked with Dave to analyze my diet in an attempt to become more efficient with my nutrition timing and frequency. There were several key learnings from our time together including the importance of protein timing and polarized nutrition approach to my training. We utilized an application called Libro to track my nutrition intake throughout the day, for a few weeks, to get an understanding of my habits and micro/macronutrient intake. Over several weeks, the action and reaction approach brought us to a point where my nutrition was spot on with my training- I was meeting the necessary micro and macro nutrient intake for what was deemed necessary for my training and performance needs. While this is good, and provides an additional part of the picture, we are still missing a third piece of the puzzle.
What happens between the input and the output is critical to the equation. And there in lies the challenge. Am I able to optimize my diet, lifestyle and/or training to enhance my wellbeing? My performance? Have my athletic pursuits been detrimental to my overall wellbeing? Am I more or less sensitive to certain foods and having challenges with absorbing nutrients? These are just some of the questions in mind.
For example, what you eat, how active you are, your cognitive ability are all important factors to consider and monitor. But, none of those give any insight into how much hemoglobin is in your body. Why is that important? Hemoglobin is the iron containing oxygen transport of your body. This is the little red disks that float around your body delivering oxygen from your lungs (when you breath) to various parts of the body. While more doesn't necessarily mean better, having a larger capacity to deliver oxygen to your body can be beneficial, being low is a serious sign of iron deficiency and anemia. There's no easy way to definitively measure hemoglobin, among many other markers through external measures. Of course there are signs and symptoms, but the point I'm trying to get to is that measuring hemoglobin and iron binding capacity isn't like gaining weight or loosing weight.
But, what if I told you there was a way to "peak inside" and gain actionable insights, personalized, and tailored to your lifestyle and goals. Would you get excited?
I did...
Enter InsideTracker!
InsideTracker uses cutting edge science to provide customized recommendations to suit your goals as an individual. Whether you are targeting healthy ageing, sport or general wellbeing, there is no other way to understand your body other than analyzing your lifestyle, DNA, and biomarkers. This solves the dilemma between the input and output, and even identifies if your input or output can be modified/ improved.
You may be asking, what is a biomarker, and, how does InsideTracker work? A biomarker is a biological indicator of your body’s internal condition which is tracked over time through the blood. Getting this data presents an opportunity to create a personalized roadmap for you to challenge and progress your goals. Biomarkers change, which is good! That means that you can implement nutrition/lifestyle changes to alter the biomarkers in favor of your desired outcome. Unlike many programs that rely on assumptions, InsideTracker gives you the actual data, the reality of what YOU are all about. Once you know where YOU are at that point in time, InsideTracker helps you understand what your biomarkers mean and, more importantly, how to can improve that marker.
The first step is to get schedule an appointment to get your blood drawn. This collection tracks your biomarkers and is one of the main drivers behind their analytics. Once you have your collection submitted by a lab, complete your online profile and then wait for your results (usually 7-10 days). It's as easy as that! For greater detail, InsideTracker offers a DNA test that can be added on at any time on its own.
This is HUGE!
As an athlete I am constantly pushing my body to extremes. Day after day stressing different systems for physiological development. The data Whoop has collected has showed me how I recover day to day and, as this graphic shows, I am not perfect. (For reference, green is great, yellow is moderate, red is poor). I’m excited to learn about my biomarkers to identify any potential deficiencies and intervene to optimize that balance. Once the data is analyzed, InsideTracker provides personalized nutritional recommendations based on your activity to help you make progress towards optimizing your biomarkers. This is what has me very excited!
There are a few key markers I am anxious to learn about. Now is a great time to test too given where I am with my training. I am in the middle of a 6 week block which is a good time to have training effects more or less normalized. No new stressors or nutritional modifications have been made either. I am curious about my vitamin D levels, the vitamin that helps maintain strong bones by assisting the body absorb calcium. A small amount of Vitamin D is absorbed from food while the majority is made from sunshine. Now, given quarantine life and the cold weather forcing time in the pain cave, I am curious how my vitamin D levels are maintaining. I'll share more info in a later post, but also my hemoglobin/ iron/ ferritin levels...
Navigating the InsideTracker website was easy and scheduling my appointment was quick and convenient. I had several options for time slots and locations during the week. I ultimately selected a day after a rest day, per InsideTracker guidelines, to avoid strenuous activity at least 24 hours before collection.
To say I am excited is an understatement, and I have barely just begun. I'll be posting regularly on Facebook and Instagram detailing my journey. Follow along and join me as I gain more knowledge about myself and continue my race to the top.
This is the start of my journey with InsideTracker.